Welcome to the Varda Group

The Varda Group is made up of people who have dedicated their lives to protecting the health and well-being of our planet and its inhabitants. After many years of working for international organizations, we established Varda in 2003. We do everything from coordinating campaigns to providing strategic advice and expertise across a wide range of environmental and social issues. Consultancy services are provided by Varda BV (The Netherlands), Varda Desarrollo Sostenible SL (Spain), and Varda Ltd (UK).

The Varda Foundation (Stichting Varda) is a not-for-profit organisation which carries out charitable projects in keeping with our mission and values.

Our mission is to create maximum change for the benefit of people and the planet through:

• Developing and/or implementing projects which lead toward the improvement of the environment, public health, and social welfare;

• Capacity building and sharing of expertise with non-governmental organisations;

• Providing strategic input, analysis and advice to non-governmental organisations, governments, business and/or intergovernmental organisations for the purposes of accelerating positive change.

Current projects

April 2013

• Speaker at the conference The High Seas, Our Future in Paris

• Organizing and presenting a stakeholders workshop in Brussels, on behalf of Act Beyond Trust, Japan

• Speaker in the Connect4Climate panel discussion at the Milan Design Week

• Participation in the Communications Working Group of the IUCN Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, at Louvain-La-Neuve University, Belgium

• Preparation and facilitation of Amnesty International UK AGM workshop

• Preparation and facilitation of Greenpeace International Executive Directors’ meeting

March 2013

• Research and strategic analysis for the IUCN Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, on behalf of Act Beyond Trust, Japan

• Logistics and participation in the annual meeting of Spanish Pew contractors, Barcelona

• Oversaw an organizational strategic planning process for the GCCA

• Strategic advice and presentation at the first meeting of the Global Ocean Commission, Cape town

• Research and report for the office of the Pew European Marine Programme, Brussels

• Facilitation of Greenpeace’s international Programme meeting and Actions Skillshare

February 2013

• Strategic support and outreach for the launch of the Global Ocean Commission in London

• As chair of the advisory panel for the United Nations Momentum for Change initiative, facilitated the first meeting of the panel since a major expansion of the project

• Teaching a course, Leadership in Environmental Advocacy and Negotiation, at Madrid international business school Instituto de Empresa

• Preparation and facilitation of Greenpeace’s global programme meeting in Istanbul

• Facilitating preparation of six draft research papers on EPR issues related to cigarette butt waste for review at workshop in June 2013

• Participated in strategy sessions to achieve a powerful international climate agreement in 2015

• Joined the advisory committee for a major upcoming conference on women's leadership in addressing climate change.

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